


In the Moment

by weird_aunt_writing



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 15:18:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16642712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weird_aunt_writing/pseuds/weird_aunt_writing
Summary: Your average citizen in the world of Mass Effect was fitted with an L2 implant when biotic potential was discovered. While he does not have enough biotic ability for practical use he still suffers the complications of an L2 implant. This fic is one example of how he and a loved one deal with that issue.





	In the Moment

The pain began in the morning this time.

They had both woken up and began their typical morning routine. He, having the earlier start time at his job, hopped in the shower while she went to kitchen to start their coffee. When she returned moments later, a steaming mug in each hand, she expected to find him standing in their closet, pulling his freshly pressed uniform from the rack. It was surprising, though not totally out of the ordinary, to come back and find him splayed atop their bed, his face in a pillow and water droplets still beading on his back.

Without a word she set the cups of coffee down on a side table and reached over to run a gentle hand through his hair, her fingers coming away slick with the water still soaking the strands. She felt the slight twitch of his head under her fingers as he winced at her touch. The first touch during one of these episodes always caused him to wince.

Her hand slid down to the base of his neck to rest on the small, metallic nub that marked the location of his biotic implant. Circling the edge of the implant her fingers rubbed a deep, slow massage around the area, a movement she had perfected over the years they’ve been together. His implant was an L2, one of the first rounds of implants the humans had developed and being that their species was still so knew to the biotic scene it came with complications. Thankfully it only appeared to be a headache this time. Sometimes he’d wake in the middle of the night in a state of sheer terror, repeating the same phrase over and over or pacing around the apartment, or a number of other mannerisms. Sometimes she could help, massaging the area helped to stimulate the implant to resume normal functioning, and he claimed it worked wonders for the headaches. Other times, on the really bad days, all she could do was hold him and rock him until the implant righted itself.

They stayed like that for almost half an hour. Him face-down on the bed, trying to forget the pain, and her patiently rubbing the area, and sometimes drifting down to his shoulders, where the pain had caused his muscles to tighten. She was good at recognizing the signs of his pain. In moments like this tension was obvious in every muscle. Even with his face in the pillow she could picture his exact expression. His eyebrows would be scrunched together, the skin around his eyes would tighten, and he’d hold his his jaw so tautly that it made white lines appear across his cheeks.

Finally he pushed himself onto his side and cracked his eyes open to look up at her before closing them back again. Her lips split into a loving smile and she leaned down to place a gentle kiss to his cheeks. Normal muscle and eye movement was always a sign that the end was near. As his pain eased, his features gradually relaxed. Even so she didn’t stop the movement of her fingers on his skin. She patiently continued her work until his body was clear of all signs of discomfort.

As the aching finally moved to the postdrome stage he opened his eyes again and lifted a hand to take hers that had stilled against his skin. Turning his head slightly he kissed the inside of her palm and whispered a thank you to the nimble fingers that so often helped him.

He gave her a small smile, although his face still looked sad, “I’m sorry our coffee is cold now.”

“Shhh,” she gave in return and lowered herself to kiss him on the lips this time. “The moment I saw you were having an episode coffee was the last thing on my mind.”


End file.
